title: Stability of plant sterols in ingredients used in functional foods.
abstract: The content of plant sterol (PS) and their oxidation products (POPs) in eight ingredients used to enrich functional foods was studied. A gas chromatographic (GC) technique with mass-spectrometric detection was used for identification, while GC with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) was used for quantification. β-Sitosterol was the most abundant phytosterol, and the main POPs found were derived from this compound (7α/β-hydroxysitosterol, 7-ketositosterol, and sitostanetriol). The total amount of POPs found in the ingredients ranged from 29.03 to 110.02 μg/100 g PS. The β-sitosterol oxidation rates ranged from 10 to 50 μg β-sitosterol oxides/100 g of β-sitosterol. In view of this low rate of oxidation in the ingredients tested, it can be concluded that the PS remain stable in these ingredients. Significant correlations (p < 0.01) were found between total oxysitosterols versus β-sitosterol contents (R(2) = 86.5%) and between total POPs and total PS (R(2) = 81.6%).
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Food Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Larena
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: García-Llatas
authors.forename: M Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.forename: Luis Manuel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Siles
authors.forename: Reyes
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barberá
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lagarda
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D055951:Functional Food; D057230:Limit of Detection; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013261:Sterols / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013261:Sterols